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As Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 nears its halfway point, a longtime crew member of the Discovery decides to leave the starship behind.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 4, “All Is Possible,” streaming now on Paramount+.
While the crew of the USS Discovery have been transported over 900 years into the future ever since the Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 finale, the reality over been separated from all their family and friends for centuries has begun to weigh on some of the crew as they continue to rebuild the United Federation and Starfleet in the 32nd century. And as the crew of the Discovery takes the overdue time to reflect and reconsider their place in this far-future universe, one longtime character decides to leave the Discovery for the foreseeable future: Sylvia Tilly.
Tilly has been enduring something of an existential crisis and a prolonged bout of intense ennui ever since the start of Season 4, even as the Discovery leads the charge to welcome dozens of civilizations back into the Federation. Sensing this, Tilly has met periodically with Doctor Hugh Culber to get to the root of these issues about her sense of place and career choices. After successfully leading a group of Starfleet cadets to safety after crashing on a hostile planet, Tilly was offered a teaching position at the newly reopened Starfleet Academy and, after a conversation with Captain Michael Burnham about her being separated from her family, Tilly decides to accept her new role at the Academy.
Tilly was the first person Burnham befriended after being transferred to the Discovery following her conviction for mutiny, kicking off the Federation-Klingon War at the start of Star Trek: Discovery. While initially scared of bunking with Burnham due to her reputation, the two quickly struck up a strong friendship, with both characters rising through the ranks before eventually becoming senior officers on the Discovery. And while Tilly was more of an effervescent presence among the hardened officers, she became less naïve while retaining her firm idealism and positive outlook after saving the Federation on more than one occasion.
During her conversation with Burnham in Discovery Season 4, Tilly reveals that she joined Starfleet because she wanted her mother to see how far she had come, hoping to take command of her own starship someday. With her mother now dead for centuries, Tilly has to rethink why exactly she remains in Starfleet. Feeling her optimistic, can-do attitude is needed in inspiring new generations of Starfleet personnel — especially based on her recent ordeal with the stranded cadets — Tilly believes her skills are best utilized at Starfleet Academy. And as Tilly parts with Burnham and the Discovery crew on good terms, she leaves open the possibility to return to the starship someday should they ever need her.
Saru had gone a similar sabbatical from the Discovery between Seasons 3 and 4, deciding to spend several months on his home planet of Kaminar to help the power Kelpian Su’Kal acclimate to rejoining his people. Eventually, Saru returned to the crew of the Discovery while maintaining his advisory responsibilities to Kaminar, with the experience visibly making Saru a more confident and fully rounded Starfleet officer and confidant to Burnham.
Hopefully, Tilly can have a similar experience away from the Discovery for a prolonged period of time, quelling the ennui and uncertainty she was facing about herself to one day return to the Discovery all the stronger for it. And at any rate, Burnham would welcome back her friend and former roommate to the Discovery in a heartbeat.
To see Tilly off, Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.
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